2 selectmen moving to fire David Berry

SHIRLEY -- Chief Administrative Officer David Berry, facing calls to resign, has been placed on paid administrative leave until further notice.

The decision was made in executive session during Monday night's selectmen's meeting, which Berry did not attend, according to Selectmen David Swain and Kendra Dumont.

The board had called for Berry to resign two weeks ago, saying he had not lived up to the expectations of the job. Berry said he had no plans to resign and continued to show up for his job at Town Hall.

Selectmen Chairman Andy Deveau, who has maintained that Berry has not only met but exceeded the expectations of the job and voted against authorizing him to resign, was also not at the meeting Monday night. Deveau could have phoned into the meeting because the board has adopted the Attorney General's remote-participation clause to the Open Meeting Law, but he did not.

Deveau, who has resigned from the board but plans to stay on until the town election in May, is in Florida on vacation with his family, a trip he takes every year, Swain said.

"In fairness to Andy, last year when he was on vacation for the same time period, he didn't call in either," Swain said.

Dumont said that the executive session was not held specifically because Deveau was out of town, but said that it was just timing.

Deveau and Berry have said they were shocked by the decision to dismiss Berry, but Dumont said she's not buying it.

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"I don't understand how Mr. Berry and Mr. Deveau were blindsided by this," Dumont said. "After last year's job- evaluation performance, nothing has changed and nothing got better. I don't understand how they could be blindsided."

The chief administrative officer's job description, significantly different than that of his predecessor, had been a subject of controversy on the board, as was the process by which he would be evaluated. While Dumont and Swain wanted to use the existing, generic form developed by the Personnel Board and approved by selectmen, Deveau favored a subjective narrative, specific to the job.

Eventually agreeing to disagree about the evaluation forms, both were used. The upshot was that Deveau praised Berry's performance, but Swain and Selectman Kendra Dumont were not satisfied.

Swain said that he and Dumont drafted a document that will be given to Berry outlining the reasons they believe he did not execute the responsibilities of the job. The document is being reviewed by the town's attorney, and the process should be completed within the next three weeks, he said.

Swain said he could not comment further on what happened during the executive session because the matter has not been resolved yet.

It's unclear whether Berry has hired an attorney or plans to sue the town as a result of the decision.

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